WIS

AceCards

I am 40 years old. I currently am in the furniture business, but due to the economy, I am looking for new opportunities. I would like to get into a sales type role. I am a graduate of Indiana University and have been a resident of Indiana my whole life.

WIS

When your not playing online simulation games, what are some of your other interests and hobbies?

AceCards

I am a big golfer and poker player. Both online and live poker. Acutally, I went to World Series of Poker in Las Vegas last year and intend on going back again this year. I sat at same table as Ted Forrest, who has 5 World Series of Poker championship bracelets.

WIS

Really? What was it like to sit at the same table as a World Series of Poker champion?

AceCards

It was a crazy experience. Here is a guy I have read about and seen on television and all of a sudden sits at the same table as me. I actually outlasted him by about four hours too.

WIS

Wow, that is really cool. So who are your favorite teams?

AceCards

Well obviously being from Indy, the Colts and Pacers and I am also a fourth generation Cardinals fan.

WIS

What is your most memorable sports moment?

AceCards

I would have to say when the Colts won the Super Bowl a few years ago.

WIS

Who would you say are some of your favorite players?

AceCards

Ozzie Smith, Albert Pujols, Reggie Miller, Peyton Manning. Some guys from IU like Calbert Cheaney and Chris Reynolds. Also, Tony Gwynn. Even though he has no ties to my teams, I just loved watching him play. He is a fabulous hitter, which you never would have known looking at him as he looked like someone who could barely get out of the box, but he was so good and rarely struck out.

WIS

What is your greatest WIS moment?

AceCards

Winning the National Championship with IU in the Naismith world in season 35.

WIS

Your biggest sport is obviously Hoops Dynasty but I noticed you tried a few other games. Tell me about some of your experiences with those games and maybe why you liked/did not like them.

AceCards

Well first of all, I actually found out about WIS through MLB.com. As a young boy, a long time ago, I enjoyed micro league baseball. I started out on WIS getting into baseball simulations and than when HD came out, I was in the first world - Naismith. I got my feet wet a little, struggled early on but by the sixth season I made the tournament - and won using Division II St. Mary's. This got me fired up and I began slowly adding teams in every world. I also have tried Hardball Dynasty and Gridiron Dynasty, but my favorite is still, and will always be HD.

WIS

In Hoops Dynasty, how do you approach recruiting?

AceCards

Recruiting, to me, is very important. Some people put too much emphasis on getting star players - the four and five star recruits - and thats it. While it is important to have a go to guy, I look more towards role playrs; guys who will come in and fill a solid role and a need for me. It is important to have a mixture of talent with your one, maybe two superstars, solid core guys, and role players. It is too difficult to try to recreate the Fab Five. The key, to me, when it comes to recruiting is the team as a whole. What are my needs? My strengths and weaknesses? I tend to try to improve upon the unit as a whole. I like developing guys and try to stay away from those who may leave after one year or two.

WIS

Why do you list certain guys ahead of others on your depth chart? Is there a specific strategy that you go with?

AceCards

Sometimes I like to bring a starter in off the bench. In some situations I like to come out with a strong defender, as opposed to a guy who plays no defense and shoots. Bring a better scorer off bench and provide a spark. I think it is best sometimes to not have five best players on the court to start the game. I like to shift around my bench sometimes as well. If a team has 8-9 man rotation, I will increase the tempo and use more guys, to keep players rested.

WIS

Approximately how much practice time do you devote to offensive/defensive sets? How do you approach allotting individual practice time? Why do certain guys practice certain things?

AceCards

I probably spend more time focused on practice than a lot of people. I believe in strong offensive IQs. I spend 22 minutes on my offensive sets and 23 minutes on defensive sets. The rest of the time is allotted to individuals skills.

WIS

Do you have any favorite players from any of your HD teams?

AceCards

Mandala Abdul-Rahim sticks out to me. I got him out of Africa. I wanted to try some international recruiting. He was ultimately a second round pick to NBA. Timothy Brown was a guy I spent a lot of time working on to try to develop. I gave him a redshirt his first year so I could spend extra time working with him. I was getting ready to unleash him as a senior - until he declared for the draft after his junior year. Now I obviously was disappointed because he did not seem ready but he thought differently and he was the 23rd overall pick.

WIS

Have any other coaches sought you out for help? Do you mind helping other users?

AceCards

No I certainly don’t mind. Coaches send me sitemails often and I always try to respond.

WIS

Who are the users you respect the most?

AceCards

Vandydave and Nellie. We spend time in Shtickless together. We spend time talking about game-planning and sharing our thoughts on games and our opinions and stuff. We really help each other out and it has helped my growth to become a better HD coach. Also kjufbg is someone I have a lot of respect for.

WIS

What is your favorite aspect of HD?

AceCards

Recruiting. When you sign a guy it is like Christmas. You spend so much time and effort trying to sign your guys and when you finally do it is just such a relief and very exciting. A close second would be taking a team to the National tournament and making a deep run. The fun part of that is spending so much time game-planning for these games.

WIS

What is your least favorite aspect of Hoops Dynasty?

AceCards

Recruiting! When you spend so much time trying to sign a guy and they sign somewhere else, it can be heartbreaking.

WIS

What is your ultimate goal in Hoops Dynasty? Have you reached it?

AceCards

Well I have achieved one goal – I won the National championship with the Hoosiers. My new goal now is to match Bobby Knight’s three national titles.